Ulf Dextegen (born 16 November 1960) is a Swedish

hypnotherapist Hypnotherapy, also known as hypnotic medicine, is the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy. Hypnotherapy is generally not considered to be based on scientific evidence, and is rarely recommended in clinical practice guidelines. However, several p ...

and champion

freediver Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving, is a mode of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breath- ...

(national records in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 with 8 minutes 43 seconds in

static apnea Static apnea (STA) is a discipline in which a person holds their breath (apnea) underwater for as long as possible, and need not swim any distance. Static apnea is defined by the International Association for Development of Apnea (AIDA Internat ...

, and bronze medals in 2009 and 2011 world championships. Personal best in training: 9 minutes 11 seconds). Dextegen is known for experimenting with

altered states of consciousness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called an altered state of mind, altered mental status (AMS) or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. It describes induced changes in one's me ...

through hypnosis and

self-hypnosis Self-hypnosis or auto-hypnosis (as distinct from hetero-hypnosis) is a form, a process, or the result of a self-induced hypnotic state. Frequently, self-hypnosis is used as a vehicle to enhance the efficacy of self-suggestion; and, in such cas ...

. After an episode of being successfully treated from stress, he became interested in hypnosis in 2006. Completing initial training courses in hypnosis and freediving, Dextegen used static apnea to check the efficiency of the altered state of consciousness in education and sports. Despite being a 40+ years old office worker with an average

lung capacity Lung volumes and lung capacities are measures of the volume of air in the lungs at different phases of the respiratory cycle. The average total lung capacity of an adult human male is about 6 litres of air. Tidal breathing is normal, resting br ...

, he made the experience even more challenging by excluding any special diet or excessive lifestyle restrictions and exercises. In two years of practicing a combination of static apnea and self-hypnosis, Dextegen went from beginner to national champion and second in the world ranking in static apnea (years 2008–2009)."Mitochondrial efficiency", Tomas Schiffer
thesis, 2014,

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally ...

After retiring from competition in 2013, Ulf Dextegen naturally went on helping other athletes in many different sports, amateurs and professionals. He uses himself as example of how powerful mind-training could be: "though I wasn't sure to succeeded in sport, the self-experiment went out better than I could imagine".

References

External links

official website of Ulf Dextegen
(in Swedish) 1960 births Living people Hypnotherapists Swedish male divers Swedish freedivers Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Swedish sportsmen {{Sweden-bio-stub